The Performer
by Miss Storyholic
Summary: (RC Book 1) "I am the performer…" He had to repeat that sentence. He had to repeat that sentence over and over or else he would forget. Forget that he shouldn't have any free thinking at all. (Poll is closed.)
1. The Phrase

**Title**: The Performer

**Rated**: T

**Cartoon**: Littlest Pet Shop

**Pairing(s)**: a bit of Sunil/Pepper

**Genre**: Horror/ Angst/ Suspense/ Drama/ Supernatural

**Summary**: "I am the performer…" He had to repeat that sentence. He had to repeat that sentence over and over or else he would forget. Forget that he shouldn't have any free thinking at all.

**WARNING! The contents of this story will contain animal cruelty, animal negligence, and violence. Basically this story is not for the faint of heart.**

**You have been warned.**

**Disclaimer: I don't owned Littlest Pet Shop, Hasbro does. I only owned this story-lined and my OC characters.**

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**Chapter 1: The Phrase**

His eyes shot opened from the sound of banging.

"Wake up, its showtime. Rodent."

The small door opened with such speed that he didn't have time to feel two large hands roughly taking him out and dropping him to the ground in the same hard manner.

"Ahhhh…" White spots filled his vision from the sudden action, his head pounding. His whole body was hurting and it didn't help by the sounds of the animals-_His_ neighbors- screaming at the top of their lungs, cursing at the humans who have captured them, shouting empty death threats that they would never accomplished…He doesn't understand why they keep saying those things? He's already accepted his faith, his death…why do they still bother in saying they'll get back at the humans? That they will kill them?

He heard the familiar clicking sound of the leash connecting to his collar; he knew it was time to go. He steeled himself enough to move each of his paws one at a time. His back still hurt from the rude awakening, his long flurry tail still sending streaks of pain throughout his body whenever its move, and each step he took was heavy and hard.

His handler must've thought he was moving too slowly because he tugged on his collar hard, those white spots coming back again just after they all disappeared from his sight. "Move, you stupid rat!" The thug shouted. Ignoring the white spots and the pounding headache he had, he tried harder to move faster for his handler, one of his torturers. Soon, the angry and fearful cries of the animals faded as they went farther away from their prison and was replaced by the increasing sounds of cheering humans and…music…

Oh, he knew that sickly sweet song anywhere and he knew…Oh, he knew what was waiting for him out there.

After all, why would the Charmer bring him out?

'_I am the performer…'_

'_I am the performer…'_

A white light blinded his sight. Music and cheers clouded his hearing. His eyes adjusted to the light and right away, his eyes centered on three creatures. They danced to the beat of the Charmer's flute, twisting and waving around their limbless bodies until suddenly….the Charmer stops…

His flute leaves his old lips, his eyes scanned down below makeshift arena where the four animals and one nervous man standing in right now. The audience cheering behind a gated fence, believing they were protected from the deadly creatures inside the small stadium. The Charmer stands on his podium and puts his arms out to the crowd. "My friends…" Right away, the Charmer managed to quiet the loud humans. "It is now time for a real performance but not by me. In this very arena stand the three of the most dangerous snakes known to man…." He then rolls the name in dramatic effect. "…Cobras…"

The crowd was getting antsy as he continued "These creatures are feared purely by their strength, their poison… if one of us was to face these monsters right now, surely he or she would be dead." The crowd was reaching their breaking point and he, one of the Charmer's prisoners was as well. The very moment he saw the cobras, his mind went semi-blank. All his thoughts he had before entering the ring, all his aches and pains he felt of being push out of his cell and into the ring were gone.

All that remained was his instinct to kill, his massive hunger for food, his urges to hunt...

The humans have a name for what he was experiencing right now…

They called it predator mode.

He was right now on the hunt…

"However there is one creature that can kill the deadly cobra." And then, the Charmer waves his hand into the arena, towards his prisoner. "That my friends will be the mongoose…" Cheers came back again. The Charmer shouted. "Release him."

It was time.

Like a man freeing a rampaging bull, the Charmer's thug quickly unhooked the leash from his collar and ran into the hall connecting to the arena. Locking the door behind him with the hopes the venomous reptiles wouldn't get to him.

It was a good thing he did because the very moment the leash was off, the fight between the mongoose and the three cobras have began.

Right away, the mongoose headed to the closest one. In one swift move, he dodged the serpent's bite and delivered his own deadly blow by biting the cobra's neck hard. He wouldn't let go as the cobra tried to twist out of his gasp. Even as he hears the other cobras coming closer to him, he refused to let go. Finally, the cobra went limp.

One cobra was dead, two were still alive.

With the whip of his head, he throws the carcass towards the other serpents, knocking them to the ground. Then, he pounced on one of the snakes, instantly biting the cobra in neck like his fallen comrade. He quickly used his whole frame to trap the snake, using both his back and front paws to keep his prey from getting out of his grasp, digging his sharp claws into the snake flesh. The cobra cried one last hiss of pain before falling dead to the ground.

There was only one left.

His demonic yellow orbs scanned the arena until he spotted the last remaining cobra. He narrowed his eyes. His opponent was fleeing from him! Typical cobra behavior…

The mongoose runs after the snake, jumping two feet into the air and landing one top of the fleeing creature. They rolled around in the dirt until they jump away from each other, glaring daggers at each other as they circled around the death ring.

"You're not running away, you vile creature." The mongoose said. "Fight like a real animal."

The cobra hissed at him. "You should be happy, Mongoose. I was merely sparing you from a humiliating demise."

The mongoose tried to bite him but jump back when the cobra's fangs went too close to his face. The snake hissed at him again, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he did that. "Hmmm…I don't smell fear. How rare… I can see why our king wanted us to fight."

King, Master, Lord… In the eyes of the cobras, the Charmer was entity of great power and control. Whatever the Charmer wanted the cobras to do, the cobras would obey that order like those stupid obedient thugs that enjoy hurting him and his family.

It was for that reason that made the mongoose hate the cobras even more.

"King? I thought 'captor' fitted him more." He mocked at the cobra. The serpent narrowed his eyes, clearly angry at his opponent. "You dared insult our master, our ruler, Mongoose?"

The cobra went towards the mongoose in lighting speed, hoping to bite the mongoose in the face for his insult towards the Charmer.

The cobra just simply quickens his death.

In one second, the mongoose had the deadly serpent's head inside his mouth. In another second later, the mongoose crushed the snake's head with his own fangs. He coughed out the snake's head out of his mouth and smirked at the snake's corpse. Just like that, it was over. The human crowd cheers loudly at the dismay before them, not one of them horrified that they just saw the brutal murder of three animals. He heard the Charmer's distinctive laugh before he talk. "Once again you have proven your worth, Sunil."

The mongoose, Sunil glared at the old man, the cobra's blood going down his mouth. Soon, The Charmer gets up on his podium again and shouts. "Once again, Sunil the Great has proven let again that even the deadest creatures can be killed."

Sunil closed his eyes, absorbing the energy of the cheers. He could hear all the comments the human audience were saying…

"Awesome!" "He got it!" "Oh my god, that's so cool…" "It took him seconds to kill those snakes." "He's fast." "I can't believe he got them all!"

He opened his eyes, staring blankly to the ground. He hated those comments. He always felt something in his stomach when he heard those comments and yet…

He enjoyed it. He enjoyed the humans cheering him, loving him as he performed for them in these life and death battles.

He was the performer for their amusement.

He looks at his bloody front paws. "I am…the… performer…"

"I am…the performer…" he repeated.

He glared up the Charmer who smirked happily at him. The cheers were getting too excitement, too loud… "I am the performer…"

He had to repeat that sentence. He had to repeat that sentence over and over or else he would forget.

Forget that he shouldn't have any free thinking at all.

-#####-#####-

Sunil Nevla awoke with a jolt. His eyes snapped open; his blue fur was littered in sweat. He sat up quickly, looking around his surroundings. He was no longer in the arena or covered in blood. There was no crowd cheering his name. The Charmer was no where to be seen…

He was in the Littlest Pet Shop's play area, lying on top of the big furniture chair next to his magician hat, wand, and stuffed cobra. Though it took Sunil a few minutes to make him realized he was in the shop, not a blood-soaked fighting ring. Once he calm down, he sat up on the chair, hugging his stuffed cobra tightly in his arms. It was a dream, he had to make sure if it was just a dream…

He glanced around to make sure he was alone before taking his hat and looking inside. Pin inside his hat was a faded old red flower hairclip. He unclipped the hairpin, taking it out of the hat. His eyes softened as he stroked the petals of the pin gently.

He sighed in relief. It was just nightmare….

"Sunil!"

Sunil jumped in fright, clawing the ceiling in fear. He gazed down to see a familiar face and let out another sigh of relief. "Minka…Don't do that!"

Minka Mark merely smiles at the frightened mongoose. "Sorry, sorry. I was just wondering if you have seen my new paint set? I just got the perfect idea for a new painting for Pepper's birthday party and I need, need to paint it right now but I can't find my paint set anywhere. I look everywhere! Near the tire swing, near the big fire hydrant, near the-"

"Actually, Minka…" Sunil interrupted. As Minka was talking, he let go of the ceiling, jump back down on the big furniture chair. "I believe I have seen your paint set near the toy box."

"Really? Thanks Sunil. I'll go check there right now." In a flash, Minka runs toward the toy box, hoping to find her paint set. He stares at his monkey friend for awhile before turning to his stuff. Pepper's birthday was four days away and Sunil was planning to perform a new magic trick for his skunk friend. He been practicing the new trick for a week now and yet he still couldn't get it right. He always ended up being covered in black smoke after his trick flops but he wouldn't give up.

'_After all…_' He thought._ 'I am a performer and-'_

He stopped his thought process as the recent memory of the nightmare came back into his mind. He frowned as he stares down at his front paws. His freshly cleaned paws... Quite the contrast, of the blood-soaked filthy paws he seen in his nightmare…

Only it wasn't just a nightmare…

"I am the performer…" He whispered. That phrase…

"_You are a performer, Sunil. MY performer… You will remember that."_

Sunil felt a chill go down his spine. It was like _he_ was here right now, standing over his shoulder, whispering in his ear…

"You know perhaps I should stop practicing my trick today." He said to no one in particular. He was practicing his trick before he decided to take a nap, believing he would feel refresh to continue his rehearsal but after that nightmare…

Suddenly, he just realized something…

Right away, he stared back at his front paws, his empty paws…

"Oh no..." He whispered.

He immediately went to his magician hat and look inside. There was nothing inside. His anxiety began to increase as he went around the chair, not finding the item he was looking for.

'_It's not here.'_

'_It's not here.'_

The hairpin was not here.

_**TBC…**_

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**Author's note**: I completely and utterly blamed Wormtail96 for inspiring me this idea after reading with his story, Space Monkey and watching the ending of the episode: Gailbreak too many times to the point of researching the mongoose. Now, I can't get the idea out of my head and I had to at least write something down or else. I planned for this story to be less than five to ten chapters but it won't update frequently. I still have other stories that need to be update and I want to finish them.

Also, please review this story. I really want some feedback on this story. Is it good? Is it bad? Should make the rating up due to its violence? Please tell me…

Until then…


	2. The Rabid

**Disclaimer: I don't own Littlest Pet Shop, Hasbro does. I only owned this story-lined and my OC characters.**

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**Chapter 2: The Rabid**

Sunil was now in panic mode.

The hairpin…the hairpin that he secretly hid in his magician hat was gone. It was gone. It was gone!

The blue mongoose rapidly tossed the loud squeaky toys out of its crate until it was empty. Once he emptied the toys box and realized the hairpin wasn't there, he went to the other toys box and began to toss those toys out of the crate as well. So far, the results of his search have left him with nothing.

He groaned in his front paws after he emptied the box. Where was it? How in the world did he lose it? Never mind that, he already knew how he lost it. When Minka scared him by her sudden appearance, he must've dropped the hairpin but where hairpin landed, he had no idea.

Sunil thought hard. Were there any more places he hasn't checked yet? "The beds!" He said as he ran towards the doggy beds. Thankfully, there were no pets sleeping there so he could simply toss the pillows off and shake the beds if there were any hidden items. "Where is it?" He hissed angrily as he throws pillow after pillow behind him. "Ah…Sunil…" The mongoose jumped in fright, he quickly turns around to see his friends, Blythe Baxter and Pepper Clark looking at him with curiosity and concern. He quickly composed himself and scratched his head nervously. "O-Oh, Blythe, Pepper…Ah…" He stares down at the mess he just made. "Do you need me for something?" He said lamely. Praying to the gods-any gods for that matter- that they won't question the mess he just made. Sadly they weren't listening to his prayers or maybe the gods just didn't give a damn as Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Do we need you for something? Kinda looks like you need help with something, Sunil." The female skunk said as she pointed one of her front paws towards the disarray of pillows and messed-up beds. "What are you looking for?"

"Ah…it is nothing that is important."

Blythe shifted the package in her arm. Sunil assumed those must be Pepper's new comedy crops. "Nothing important? It didn't look 'nothing important' to me." Blythe said as she put the package down beside her. She then bends her knees to reached Sunil's height. "Do you want us to help you?"

Sunil's eyes widened. Pepper then spoke up. "Yeah…I'm sure if we help you, we'll-"

"NO!" Both girls blink by the blue mongoose's sudden outburst. "I mean…" Sunil quickly composed himself again and tried his hardest to speak in a normal tone. "Thank you but I believe I have the situation under my control. If I need any help with my search. I will ask you for assistance."

"You sure?" Blythe asked. Sunil could see deep concern in her bright blue orbs. "I am sure. Now if I may be excuse…" With that said, Sunil runs off, zooming behind the artificial tree. He sighed with relief.

He would admit, finding the hairpin would be easier if Blythe and Pepper help him but he knew they'll be questioning why would a full-grown male mongoose want or even have such a girly hairpin in his possession. He didn't want to explain so he would have to search for the hairpin alone. Though it's easier said than don-

"ALRIGHT! WHO'S DOING THIS?" Sunil whined when he heard the angry shout of one certain little hedgehog. '_Oh boy…_' he thought. Sunil peeks from behind the tree to see his friend; Russell Ferguson put the squeaky toys back in their proper toy boxes, whispering the word 'messy' over and over again.

Oh boy, he was so adsorbed in his search that he forgot about his little clean-holic friend. Russell would also question him. _'And most likely lecture me about making a big mess and that it was a fire hazard.'_ Sunil thought flatly. He really did care for Russell but his friend's habits of rules and cleaning would sometimes get to the point of annoying the blue mongoose.

Sunil slip away from the tire swing and went back to the big furniture chair. He already search this spot too many times and haven't found the hairpin. After he sat down on the big comfy chair, he thought.

What other places he haven't look yet? Maybe by the-

"HEY GUYS!"

Sunil groaned in his paws. Right now, he was in no good mood to see what was making Vinnie happy.

"Look…" He could hear the tapping of the gecko's tap dancing shoes as he danced his moves. Strangely, the usual loud sound of Vinnie falling to the ground wasn't there. "See!? I didn't even tripped or fall or anything."

"That's great, Vinnie. I knew if you practice enough, you'll get the moves just right." He heard Blythe say to the gecko. "Yeah, that was amazing, Vinnie." Said Penny Ling. He didn't have to see to know the lizard was gleaming right now. "Practice? As long as I have my good luck charm. I could dance any steps I want!"

'_Good luck charm?_' Sunil removed his paws from his face and look at his friend. What he saw made the mongoose gasped.

Standing by the big fire hydrant with Blythe and Penny was his best friend, Vinnie Terrio dressed in a black suit and tapping shoes. However, his gaze wasn't really going to his friend, it was going to the familiar red flower hairpin clipped on the side of his friend's coat.

Good news: He found his hairpin. Bad news: Vinnie was wearing it as a boutonnière.

"Vinnie… that hairpin isn't what making you dance better. It's because you've been practicing a lot." Vinnie shook his head when he heard his human friend's words. "No, Blythe, it's the pin. Everytime I dance without it, I always tripped or fall. I always mess up my dance moves. With it, I can actually dance with no problem." He took off the pin, holding it up to Blythe's face. "It's the pin, Blythe. It's lucky."

'_Lucky…'_ Sunil thought as his eyes stayed locked on the hairpin.

"_It's lucky, Sunil." She said as she holds the hairpin in her tiny paws. "It's really is!"_

"Hey!" Sunil snapped out of the memory when he watched Zoe Trent walked towards the human girl and her other pet friends. "That's my lucky charm!"

Vinnie glared at the little dog. "What? No way! This is my lucky charm. I found it first."

"Found it first? I found that charm first. Therefore, it's mine."

"Wait…you found it?" Blythe said. "Maybe we should discus-"

Vinnie cut her off. "It's mine. I found it first, Zoe."

Immediately, Zoe grabbed the hairpin with her mouth. She began to pull it away from Vinnie's side. "It's mine." She said through her teeth. Vinnie was still holding the hairpin in his paws so he pulls the hairpin to his side. Zoe's mouth still attached to it. "No, it's mine." He said as he pulled it away from Zoe's side. Soon, a tug and war began between the spaniel and the gecko.

'_Oh no…'_ Any panic Sunil felt just now have been risen up to a really high dangerous level.

If they keep tugging on the hairpin like that…

"Guys, stop this…" Blythe's words didn't reach their ears…

"It's mine!"

"Guys, I think you should listen to Blythe." Penny Ling said.

"Let go!" "No, you let go!"

Russell then spoke up. He walked up towards the fight when he heard the commotion. "Uh, I believe tugging on that is a very bad idea. It's looks very old and delicate and if it gets damaged, the owner would most likely get angry when she comes to look for it."

"Never!" "Let go right now!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Minka said as she joined the increasing crowd, watching the tug and war with curiosity.

Pepper answered the spider monkey's question. "Vinnie and Zoe are arguing over some lucky charm."

Sunil watch as they tugged on the hairpin, hard and ruthless. If they kept going at it like that…

"I'm telling you it's mine." "No, it's mine."

The old red petals were starting to be rip off-

"IT'S MINE!"

Everything stopped at that moment when those words were spoken out because it wasn't Zoe or Vinnie who spoke those words. The two feuding pets look at the mongoose in shock. "Huh?" Finally, Zoe let go of the flower-clip when she spoke. That was a very bad idea. Vinnie was pulling the hairpin towards him when Zoe let go and as a result, Vinnie humble back from the sudden shift of force, making him tripped on his own tail-

Bang! Crack!

That was a sound that Sunil didn't want to hear.

Vinnie was now on the floor, his right front paw on his head. "Ouch…" He mumbled as he stands back up on only his back legs. However, something was missing from Vinnie's paws. Vinnie noticed this and turn around.

On the floor was the broken hairpin, half of its petals scattered on the floor. The clip itself was bended as well. Sunil stared at the scene in horror. He walk toward the clip in a zombie-like fashion and dropped to his knees.

'_Nononono…' _He thought over and over.

His mouth was hanging opened, his expression frozen in horror.

'_Nonononono…'_

Then everything went black.

-#####-#####-

Despite living in a place that was completely chaotic and dangerous, it does have a schedule that everyone follows like a religion.

Guards guarded the doors of all hours of the day, always ready to attack an escapee with their bare hands or with a weapon (Sunil learned that their most powerful weapon, a gun is very effective when he saw them one day shoot a baby chimp dead when the young child tried to escape.)

The handlers were the ones who handled the care of the animal. As in care, Sunil meant was that the handler just fed them and give them water if they actually remember. They would not help the animal if he or she is hurt or sick. In fact, if you had a broken jaw, if you had an infected wound, if you even had a bad cold…they would not help you. They would leave you to die a slow and painful death if they don't just decided to feed you to the larger animals.

The Charmer and his allies wanted healthy animals, not sickly weak creatures that needed to be healed or properly care.

Sunil was lucky on that account that many injuries he has taken in the past were minor or were easily managed by his own will power and care. As one of the performers for the Charmer's and his guests' amusement, he gets the brunt force of abuse and attacks from his opponents and his 'caretakers'.

Though, he will admit the handlers do followed one thing and that was to clean the cages of every animal that was held captive here.

It was unusual. That was what Sunil heard one day as one of the handlers were taking him out of his cage. According to what the thug was telling his partner, their boss demanded that all animals' cages will be cleaned twice a week in order to make sure they didn't get diseases or something among those lines. They didn't believe that was the reason why the cages needed to be cleaned and Sunil couldn't blame them but in truth, he was kinda happy they were at least cleaning his cage. He didn't want to stand in his own filth all the time.

If only those bastards fed them more, he wouldn't have to keep worrying about starving and…

Speaking of food…

"Do you want my piece, Aashi?"

The female sky-blue mongoose stopped chewing in a brisk speed and stared at him with cute embarrassment before she shook her head. "No, thank you, Sunil… Besides, you and Elijah haven't eaten yet."

He shook his head. "We are fine, Aashi. We ate when we won our fights." He didn't need to worry about Elijah. He was a performer like him. He knew he would get his fill in the ring like he did. "C'mon…" He picked up his piece, a dead body part of the dead cobra he killed a few hours ago and put it into her cage. He was at least happy his cage was connected to his sister. That way he could see if his sister was doing well or not. "You need your strength." Aashi didn't move, just look at him, searching his face for any sign of deception. Sunil laughed at that. "I ate, really. Do not worry about me Aashi. I have eaten something when I was in the ring."

Aashi frowned but nonetheless took the piece in her tiny front paw. Her bright green orbs kept staring at him, searching him… even as she munched on the piece slowly, she stared at him.

Like everyone else here, even he had a routine to go through.

He would wake up, eat (if his bowl was full), chat with his siblings or Zul, fight, go back into his cage (and maybe bring a dead cobra if he was fighting them), eat, argue with Aashi about his feeding, treated his wounds, and sleep.

It was a routine he follow everyday. Maybe all of the animals follow as they rot away in this place.

"Sunil…"

He snapped out of his thought process. "Yes, Aashi?"

"Do you think Zaafir and his men escape?"

He frowned. Yesterday, Zaafir and ten other animals (two lemurs, three meerkats, and five mongooses if you don't include their leader) acted out their plan to escape the Charmer's prison and finally take back their freedom. Everyone on their side of the large room was debating if Zaafir succeeded or not. Sunil, in his opinion, thought they have failed. The guards have guns and the deliverers would rat them out in a second or killed them on the spot if they seen someone escaping. Frankly, they were walking to their doom but he didn't want to tell Aashi that.

"I don't know, Aashi…"

Aashi look down, saddened by that answer. "I see…"

A loud shout rang through their ears. "Let go! Let me go!"

The animals' shrieks must've heightened their new neighbor's fears as she sounded more desperate. Sunil and Aashi went to their cage doors, curious of who was the new resident of their captor's kingdom.

What they saw was shocking.

The new cellmate was fighting against her handlers, trying her hardest to escape their grasps. However, that wasn't what surprised them.

It was _what_ she was that got their eyes widened.

This was a human girl.

A human girl…

The other animals voice their opinions loud as she passed them.

"A human girl!" "Why is a human doing here!?" "The Charmer has decided to hunt down his own kind now!" "She's a spy, I tell you. A SPY!" "She's fighting back. So there are humans who opposed that bastard." "Hmmm….I wants to eat her…"

The thugs throw the girl in her new home, a large cell that they put larger animals in and closed the door. The girl quickly jumps up from the ground, began to pull on the lock door. She looks up at her captors with pleading eyes. "Please, you have to let me go… I have a daughter. Please…" She was crying now, tears streaming from her large brown eyes. Sunil felt a pang of sympathy for this human. The Charmer has captured her as well, taken her away from her family like he did with them. The Charmer's henchman didn't share Sunil's feelings. "Shut up! You belong to our boss now!" The human girl glared at them with her teary eyes. "I am not that fucking bastard's property. You ass-" In one quick move, one of the thugs went up and grabbed the girl's arm hard. He pulled her arm toward him, banging her body on the bars of the cage. The thug squeezed her tiny arm hard with his large beefy hand. "If you say one more word, I'll-"

"Kevin..." Kevin glared at his partner in anger. "Don't…if you hurt her-"

"I know…" He growled, letting her go. The girl clutched her arm, whining from the thug's hold on it before. "You better behave yourself, you little bitch…" Kevin and his follow thug stomped away from the girl. The words "Stupid American, were you crazy? Didn't you think…" echoed through the walls of cages until silence took over once again. Then, slowly, the animals began to talk again, muttered to their neighbors about the girl.

"Sunil…she's human…" Aashi whispered. Her eyes never left the poor human who was now crying harder than before. "I know…" He whispered back. "I know…"

"Why would the Charmer hunted his own kind now, Sunil?"

Sunil didn't say anything to Aashi after that but he knew the answer to her question quite well. He turned to his brother's cage that was right next to him as well to see him looking at the human too. His crimson eyes tell him that Elijah knew the answer too but didn't say anything.

The reason was the same as his. They both just didn't want her to know the truth.

-#####-#####-

There was another fight today.

Sunil walked downed the hallway with his handler. Today, they didn't rough him up like yesterday so he was able to walk down the hall in ease. The blue mongoose started to hear the cheering crowds of the humans but no music…

That alarmed him but he knew what that meant. When the Charmer isn't playing his song, it meant he would not be fighting any cobras today. Instead, he would be fighting something more deadly, more dangerous…

There might even be a fight going on right now, ending as one victor brutally murders his opponent merciless as the loser cries in agony. He's been in that situation before and it wasn't pretty. He remembers Aashi telling him she thought he was dead when he didn't wake up right away that day. When he entered the ring, his sight was once again blinded by the light. He tried to adjust his vision quickly. Right now, he didn't know what he was facing. When he managed to clear his eyesight, he realized he was alone in the arena.

For now…

The handler quickly unhooked the leash from the collar and ran back into the hallway, locking the door behind him. Soon, the other door opened. The one connected under the Charmer's seating area. It was a door that Sunil knew meant bad news. It was because you never know what's behind that door… what twisted creature the Charmer wanted him to fight…and he was not talking about cobras…

Soon, three human men came into the arena with a big black cage. There were no bars but solid walls on almost every side of the cage except the front. The front door of the creature's prison had three little square holes on the upper top for air and light. Sunil tried to peek inside the carriage but it was too dark inside to get a proper view of his opponent. One of the humans went to the carriage's door latch, ready to release the creature inside it. "Release the Rabid!" The Charmer commanded from his spot.

And the latch was unlocked…

The door slammed into the man's face as the creature came out of it's prison, causing the man to fall to the ground, moaning in pain. That right away attracted the beast to the man. Before the creature could be stop, the animal tackled the unfortunate human, making the monster's prey screamed in horror and pain. The other two humans ran back behind the door, locking it in the process. Sunil could only watch in disgust at the scene before him. He couldn't see what that thing was doing but he knew he didn't want to end up being it's next victim. Suddenly it's stops….

Sunil watches as the creature slowly raised itself up from the now dead human and slowly…ever so slowly…turn to look at the blue mongoose. It was a lion cub and yet it was not. The white in the cub's eyes were completely replaced by black ink. The irises were a dull dead brown color. Ash blonde fur look almost white in the contrast of new and old blood now straining it and the wounds… Oh good god, he could practically see the bones in the legs through the wounds…It was a Rabid, alright… "Why…" It was a male; the voice coming from the Rabid's mouth was indeed male. "Why…."

And just like that, the male Rabid attacked.

Sunil barely have time to dodge the creature's bite before the creature slammed himself against the wall. Sunil ran to the other side of the arena, thinking of his options. This was a weak Rabid. The fact the monster was acting out in pure instinct; not whining or screaming in pain after his impact against the wall. Even, as the Rabid turn around to look at him again, Sunil could see one of the front legs twisted up.; a state where anyone with a sane mind would be crying in tears of agony. It was the Numbness Rabid: one of the lowest types of the rabid species. The only good thing about this Rabid was that it wasn't one of the infected. The Numbness attacks once again, zooms right towards Sunil with the essence of a predator. Though, he was a little slower this time due to his broken leg. Sunil quickly dashes towards the other side, making the Rabid hit the wooden wall hard again.

He had to aim for the neck. It was the only way to kill the Rabid. The Rabid was a lion cub. He couldn't put the cub's head inside his mouth. Reaching the heart was also not a good idea due to it being very time-consuming and extremely risking. He could have half of his body tore apart by the time the Rabid's heart was rip out of his chest. The neck was the only option and properly easiest to get to. If the Rabid kept slamming himself in the walls like this then this was the only shot to get a clean finishing blow to the insane creature and that was to aim for the neck while the Numbness was down and dazed. He would have to use his claws: something a mongoose never uses when they are hunting or attacking. The mouth was always the primary and only weapon of the mongoose. Claws were meant to just hold their prey so they wouldn't escape and nothing more. So, using his claws was completely unethical. However, the lion cub's neck was too thick. Biting would just wound the Rabid and make the creature more unstable. He needed to do one clean slit at the throat and he would win the fight.

His battle strategy was quickly shattered when he tripped on the corpse's hand of the dead human. Sunil fell on the dirty hard ground, gritting his teeth on the impact of the fall. He didn't have time to get up when a paw slammed him back down on the pavement. He slowly turns his head to see the Numbness, holding him down with his good front leg. "Why…" He ghostly moaned to himself, not to his upcoming prey.

'_No…' _He thought. _'I can't die…'_ He knew this was his faith: to die in this ring of never-ending clashes. He knew he was going to die soon, either by a cobra or by a Rabid but still…

'_No…' _There was a small part, maybe even a tiny part that couldn't accepted his demise. Just couldn't stand being killed here or now.

'_I can't die…'_

Couldn't stand that he was going to be killed by such a weak and pathetic creature…

Then everything went black…

Next thing he knew, he was being thrown back into his cell. Sunil gasped for air, his lungs being squeezed out by the impact of being thrown hard to the wall of the cage. He coughed as he lay on the floor of his prison. He was alive. He had won the fight. It was the only way to explain why he was back here. Though, how he won trouble him. The last thing he remembered was being pinned by the Rabid…does that meant he-

"Sunil…"

From the corner of his eye, Aashi look at him, worriedly. "Sunil, are you ok?"

Just after she said that, he hissed. He touched his right shoulder, feeling the ripples of his torn skin. He was hurt…badly. He pulled his paw away, to see it was tinted with his blood. "Just…" He takes a deep breath. "…Minor injuries, Aashi."

She moved her head, trying her hardest to see his wound but Sunil kept blocking her view. It was a good thing the bars of their cages were stopping Aashi from coming to his side. He didn't want his little sister to see how badly wounded he was. She frowned. "It's bad, isn't it?"

"W-what? No, no…it is not bad, Aashi. I insure you that my injures are in fact-"

"Sunil…" His little sister irritably hissed. "You are bleeding… I can smell it!"

"Aashi, I am-"

A scream then broke out.

-#####-#####-

A scream… That's what broke his trance.

Sunil found himself breathing hard, his body against the play area's floor. Something was wrong. Why was he on the floor, breathing hard? Why does he smell-

His golden orbs widened.

Blood!?

He was smelling blood!

He shot up from the floor and saw a horrible sight.

Some of the pets were surrounding someone, someone green...and red?

'_Oh no…'_ He plead, oh, he plead that this was some kind of nightmare. A nightmare where he would wake up and everything would back to normal but this was real. He knew that bittersweet scent anywhere. He looks where the other pets were. They were tending to Blythe who had three cuts -scratch marks- on her pretty human face. One of the marks were so close to her left eye that if he scratch her a centimeter more, she would have been blind in one eye.

'_No…'_ Was Vinnie...dead? Did he just kill Vinnie? Vinnie…wasn't moving at all. He wasn't moving. His tiny green paw was sticking out of the crowd, unmoving at all. He couldn't tell if the gecko was still breathing. Everyone was breathing harshly. No, it was him. He was taking deep breaths now. In and out. In and out. In and out. No matter how hard he tried, the air refused to stayed in his lungs.

Shaking in fear, he fearfully stared at his front paws. The tips of his nails were littered in blood. His friends' blood… He felt the need to vomit. He…just kill Vinnie….He just kill Vinnie!

"What the heck were you thinking?" He wasn't looking at Pepper. He didn't want to look at Pepper. His mind couldn't accept what just happen even though, he knew what happened. "Are you crazy!?"

'_I thought…I thought I had control over it. Me and Elijah thought-'_

"Sunil! That was completely uncalled for!" Zoe barked at him, angrily. "How could you do something so…so…so BARBARIC!?"

He wondered how he appeared to everyone before he black out. Did he look…crazy? ...monstrous? Did they now see him like the others did in that place? Did they now saw him as a…monster? Could they be right? Was he…monster?

"No…No…" He back away from them, afraid of what he might do next. He didn't have to black out to lose control again. Pepper started to walk towards him. "What in the world-"

"Stop!" He didn't want her any closer. He didn't want any of his friends closer to him. He might…He might… "Please…Please…don't come any closer. Please…" He pleaded with her, with anyone who was coming close to him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, please, don't come any closer. I'm a monster. A monster!"

Before anyone could say anything, he ran off. Out of the play area, and away from his slip-up, from his crimes against his friends.

Away from the undeniable truth that was right in front of him all this time.

_**TBC…**_

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm not happy with the ending. In fact, I hate it. I wanted to change it. Tried my hardest to change the ending but in the end, this was the best of all the endings I could come up with. I don't like this ending because it sounds like something from a scene from Space Monkey. So, why did I keep this ending?*Sigh* I decided to keep this ending because it gets what I want to happen which was Sunil getting separate from his friends for a little bit. Why? I guess you could say that this is the least of Sunil's troubles as the story unfolds and I do mean the present Sunil.

Speaking of Space Monkey, if you are looking for it on , it is no longer there. Wormtail96's account was removed for unknown reasons (I really hate when that happens!). Luckily, you can still find his stories on DeviantArt.

On a lighter note, I would like to thank everyone for reviewing this story as well as putting it in your favorites. I hope as the story continues, you'll still enjoy it. Also, I post a picture of Aashi on my DA account in case; anyone wants to see what she looks like.

Buttercream might make a guest appearance in the next chapter.

Until then…


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